Wasp ID please

[Tiggrx]

Photographed this wasp (I think both pictures were the same individual but there were several) yesterday feeding at Wild Angelica by the Thames in South Bucks.

Have tried to ID but got confused so help please

Thanks
Aaron

[Geoff F]

If you are currently unsure - prepare to get totally confused.

Firstly, I'm definitely no expert on wasps and I'm really just keeping this post 'warm' until an expert appears.

However, the first question is how many yellow spots are on the rear of the thorax? I can clearly see 2 but suspect that there are another 2 narrow bars hidden behind.

It has a black central face stripe but this is rather weak. The vertical yellow stripe behind the eye isn't fully visible. Is it broken into two sections by a black mark? I think it is.

So this is just a complete guess now. I suspect a rather poorly marked Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) but I wouldn't totally rule out a Median Wasp (Dolichovespula media) because the black abdomen bands appear a little on the wide side.

But an expert (when one appears) should easily answer this problem.

[Tiggrx]

Thanks Geoff,

I also was favoring Common Wasp, but it just didn't seem to fit exactly. I took a few other pictures but none have the right angle to show if there are any more spots on the rear of the thorax

[eucera]

V. vulgaris. The facial markings would be very unusual for V. germanica, and the face is too short to be a Dolichovespula of any sort

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by eucera

V. vulgaris. The facial markings would be very unusual for V. germanica, and the face is too short to be a Dolichovespula of any sort

Thank you!